Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) Sets New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Shares of Great-West Lifeco Inc. (TSE:GWO) hit a new 52-week high on Friday . The stock traded as high as C$82.00 and last traded at C$81.68, with a volume of 6085433 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$80.38.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GWO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$70.00 to C$76.00 in a report on Friday, May 8th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce increased their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$75.00 to C$81.00 in a report on Friday, May 8th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$68.00 to C$70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. National Bank Financial increased their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$65.00 to C$73.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Great-West Lifeco from C$70.00 to C$73.00 in a report on Thursday, May 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$77.18.

Great-West Lifeco Stock Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average price is C$72.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is C$67.49. The firm has a market capitalization of C$73.42 billion, a PE ratio of 17.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.59, a quick ratio of 22.18 and a current ratio of 6.57.

Great-West Lifeco (TSE:GWO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported C$1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of C$8.37 billion during the quarter. Great-West Lifeco had a net margin of 12.86% and a return on equity of 15.17%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Great-West Lifeco Inc. will post 4.4525194 earnings per share for the current year.

Great-West Lifeco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 2nd. Great-West Lifeco’s dividend payout ratio is 53.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jean-Francois Poulin sold 19,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of C$79.57, for a total transaction of C$1,575,486.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 160 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$12,731.20. This represents a 99.20% decrease in their position. Also, insider L.P. Great-West Lifeco U.S. Holdings sold 46,413 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of C$63.46, for a total transaction of C$2,945,368.98. In the last quarter, insiders sold 105,613 shares of company stock valued at $7,528,257. 70.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Great-West Lifeco Company Profile

Great-West Lifeco is one of the three big Canadian life insurance firms. With just under half of the firm’s profit and revenue in Canada, Great-West also operates in the U.S. and Europe. In Canada, Great-West provides both individual and group insurance. In the United States, Great-West operates Putnam Investments and defined-contribution recordkeeping firm Empower Retirement. In 2020, Great-West announced it would acquire Personal Capital and MassMutual’s recordkeeping business. In Europe, Great-West offers life insurance, annuities, and reinsurance primarily in the U.K., Ireland, and Germany.